by Poppy Blake
Nadia nodded, unable to raise her eyes to meet her friend’s or her boyfriend’s gaze. Compassion for all three swirled around Rosie’s veins and she sent a signal to Matt for him to continue with the denouement whilst she concentrated on calming her emotions.
‘In fact, unbeknown to Nadia, William had been in love with Suki since university. Were your suspicions of their affair, and your jealousy of Suki’s jettisoning career, enough for you to consider spiking Suki’s throat spray so she would be prevented from singing, not just at the garden party, but at subsequent events? I’m sure something like that may have crossed your mind. Would William come back to you if Suki lost her record deal? Would you be able to kickstart your career with Suki out of the picture?’
All eyes, even the police sergeant’s, swung in unison to where Nadia slouched, her knees drawn to her chest, tears rolling down her cheeks as she waited for Matt to answer his own questions.
‘No. I don’t think so.’
Once again, a collective whoosh of breath was exhaled into the room. Without waiting for another word, everyone’s gaze swooped across to Felix, but clearly Matt wanted to surprise them and switched tact.
‘When Dr Bairstow informed us of the presence of the toxic substance in Suki’s throat spray, everyone was stumped. How could it have got there? Was it an accident or had one of the ingredients been tampered with? I have to admit it was an ingenious method of delivering an irritant to a professional singer. When we got the news that the substance was unusual – an extraction from a plant known as Devil’s Helmet or monkshood – we realized that only a horticulturalist or avid gardener would have known how to source it.’
Matt left that avenue of exploration dangling for the moment. A mumble of conversation began to ripple through the gathering as everyone flicked their eyes around the room, considering and discarding each one of their friends as potential experts in the plant kingdom until their eyes came to rest on Rosie. She had never been so grateful when Matt continued speaking.
‘Felix was nowhere to be seen at the garden party, despite the promises he made to Suki, because he was drinking with his friends in Colchester. He didn’t arrive until minutes before we discovered Suki writhing in agony in her lodge. But was that true? What was to stop him arriving earlier and instead of joining the party, going straight to the lodge, finding Suki with William and deciding to teach her a lesson by placing an irritant in her throat spray?’
‘Now look here. I don’t have to stay and listen to this slanderous drivel…’
‘I would rather you did, sir,’ interjected Sergeant Kirkham.
Felix took one look at the bulky physique of the police officer guarding the exit and relented.
‘You can sit down, Felix. I know you didn’t do it,’ added Matt.
‘But there’s no one left,’ muttered Jess, her mouth covered by a scrunched-up tissue as she gulped down on the tears that she was unable to stem. ‘You’re not seriously suggesting that me, or Lucas, would do something to hurt Suki? She’s my sister! She’s the only family I have left. Without Suki, I have no one!’
Rosie saw Matt shoot a glance at Sergeant Kirkham who removed his handcuffs from his belt and her stomach gave an uncomfortable lurch. The uniformed officer positioned himself at the French doors, his arms folded, legs apart.
Jess’s eyes widened in shock, her already pale features blanched to the colour and consistency of overworked putty.
‘You think it’s me? You think I poisoned Suki?’ she cried. ‘Oh my God, why?’
‘Money?’ suggested Felix.
‘You have no idea what you’re talking about! I don’t care about the stupid trust fund!’ she screamed. ‘I never have. Suki always gives me everything I need. I don’t even know how much there is.’
‘There’s twenty million pounds,’ said Suki, speaking for the first time, and the whole room erupted.
Chapter 23
‘Please, ladies and gentlemen!’ growled Detective Sergeant Kirkham. ‘Quiet!’
Silence was restored immediately as everyone waited for Matt’s next pronouncement. ‘It’s okay, Jess, I know you didn’t spike Suki’s spray. Lucas did.’
This time the noise level reached a crescendo of outrage. Detective Sergeant Kirkham, along with his uniformed colleague, and Freddie and Matt, moved in unison as Lucas launched out of his seat and made for the door. The sergeant wrestled him to the floor, but Lucas continued to scream and kick like a trout denied water until he was handcuffed. Freddie withdrew his Swiss army knife, severed a length of cord from one of the café’s blinds, and handed it to the police constable who proceeded to tied Lucas’s legs together before dragging him upright to face the Detective Sergeant.
‘Lucas Julian Evans, I am arresting you for the attempted murder of Suzanne Veronica Richards. You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’
‘Lucas, tell them it’s not true! Tell them!’ Jess wailed, rocking to and fro in Suki’s arms.
‘I’m sorry, Miss Richards, but we believe Mr Evans has been planning every detail of this incident for months,’ said Detective Sergeant Kirkham, taking over the explanation from Matt, who, Rosie had to admit, looked exhausted. ‘I’ve spoken to my colleagues in Ibiza and they’ve found suspicious compounds at the restaurant where Mr Evans works. Mr Wilson here said he thought that only a horticulturalist or avid gardener would have the requisite knowledge, but Mr Evans is a chef with a keen interest in botany. It would have been the easiest thing in the world to research a fast-acting poison, source it, and introduce it into one of your throat spray bottles.’
‘But you said murder,’ whimpered Jess.
‘That’s exactly what Mr Evans intended to do, madam,’ confirmed Sergeant Kirkham. ‘I understand that everyone knew Miss Richards took her spray with her wherever she went, even when she wasn’t performing – as a kind of talisman. This visit to Norfolk was an ideal opportunity to put his plan into action because it had to be done before she took up her recording obligations otherwise the easy access to her personal belongings would be considerably curtailed.’
‘Oh, my God!’ cried Jess. ‘You were going to murder my sister? You…’
Suki and Nadia reached out at the same time to drag Jess back down onto the sofa between them, whispering soothing words and telling her to let the police officer finish his explanation and then they would never have to see Lucas again. However, it was Matt who resumed the story.
‘At the garden party, if you recall, Lucas made sure he was always in plain sight of everyone from the moment Suki left with Freddie. He must have thought he’d won the lottery when she decided to take a complete stranger back to her lodge – Freddie was bound to be the first person suspicion would fall on and so it proved to be the case. However, I suspect his original intention had been to leak Suki’s affair with William to throw suspicion onto Felix.’
‘But why? Why would you do such a thing, Lucas?’ asked William, his upper lip curled in revulsion as he held Lucas’s eyes before taking a seat next to Suki and drawing her into his arms. He deposited a kiss on the top of her head and turned towards Matt. ‘You’ve covered the how and the who, but what about the why?’
‘Well, it’s that old cliché of money. Ever since Felix accused Rosie of poisoning the whole village with her baking, we’ve been trying to unravel what happened. When we found out someone had targeted Suki, we thought if we found out why, then we would find out who. You probably don’t know this, but Lucas was made bankrupt last year owing more than fifty thousand pounds.’
‘Lucas? Is that true?’
‘I’m not saying anything.’
‘He’d been bailed out several times by his mother, but he had bled her dry. Records show that she was forced to sell her home last year and has left the UK to live with her sister in Sydney. That’s why Lucas took a job as a chef in a small tourist restaurant in San A
ntonio – so he could escape his debts and receive his wages in cash. But it seems he fell in with a bunch of gamblers at the restaurant, didn’t you? How much do you owe them?’
Lucas made no attempt to answer; his eyes were trained on Jess.
‘Jess, please…’
‘Shut up, Lucas,’ seethed William, fighting to contain his temper.
‘You wanted our parents’ money, did you?’ shouted Jess, struggling to free herself from Suki and William’s restraint. She stood in front of him, disgust written boldly across her face. ‘You thought that if Suki was dead I’d be able to just hand over the cash to you? Were you intending to hang around until I turned twenty-five? That’s more than four years away!’
‘Jess, I had to. Those guys were threatening to shatter my kneecaps unless I came up with the funds to…’
‘Will you take him away, Sergeant? I can’t bear to look at him any longer,’ said Suki, enveloping her sister in her arms whilst the police led Lucas from the café.
Rosie glanced at Mia who gave her a quick smile before jumping up from the sofa and rushing over to hug Freddie. She watched William, and then Felix, offer their palms to Matt, thanking him for his assistance, before leaving the café to discuss what had happened and where they went from there. She was relieved there seemed to be no animosity between the two men and she hoped that, after everything that had happened to Suki that week, she would find happiness with William.
Finally, she met Matt’s gaze and a pirouette of delight wound through her body when she saw the elation and pride written across his handsome face, and maybe there was something else there in the twinkle of his eyes. Excitement joined the dance as she anticipated spending the next few hours, days or even weeks, dissecting every twist and turn of their investigation with him in the Drunken Duck. Could this be the start of a new chapter in her life, one that included not only friendship but romance? She hoped so.
‘I don’t know how to thank you, Rosie,’ said Suki, pausing on the terrace as Jess and Nadia followed the men outside to their cars for their trip back to the airport and their flight home to their villa in Ibiza. ‘Coming here to the Windmill Café just, very possibly, has saved my life.’
‘Oh, well, I…’
‘I want you to know that I’ll be spreading the word about the gorgeous lodges you have here, and if I’m ever in the neighbourhood again, I’ll be popping over for a batch of those Stilton and grape scones, and maybe another tutorial on how to make those fabulous chocolate chip cookies.’
Suki hugged Rosie, then Mia, and walked away, her shoulders straight, her head held high, every inch the superstar Rosie had no doubt she would become.
Epilogue
‘So, Rosie, what did Graham say when he heard about all the excitement?’ asked Freddie as he sipped his pint of Guinness in the Drunken Duck later that night. ‘I assume your job is safe? After all, you and Matt have not only restored the Windmill Café’s reputation – and therefore saved Graham’s business from almost certain collapse – but also quite probably helped to save a rock star’s life!’
‘Don’t worry, Freddie, Rosie’s not going anywhere,’ smiled Mia. ‘The Windmill Café wouldn’t be the same without her and Graham knows that. What about you, Matt? Have you considered ditching the outward-bound business for life as a private detective?’
‘Well, if Rosie’s going to be staying around here any longer, I might just have to consider that!’ smirked Matt, his eyes alive with mischief. ‘Do you make a habit of attracting chaos wherever you go?’
‘Hey, that’s not fair! How was anything that happened my fault?’
‘How can you say that, Matt? Chaos is the last word I would use when describing Rosie,’ laughed Freddie. ‘She’s a demon organizer. In fact, I’ve asked her to come over to Ultimate Adventures’ office to see if she can help us implement some sort of filing system before our bookkeeper combusts with exasperation.’
‘And did you agree?’ asked Matt, his lips twitching with amusement.
‘Well…’
‘I’ll let you do it on one condition.’
‘Hey, Rosie is doing you a favour!’ said Mia indignantly.
‘Is it a deal?’
‘Okay,’ laughed Rosie.
‘You come with me and Freddie on Ultimate Adventures’ next wild camping expedition at the end of October.’
‘Oh, I…’ That had been the last thing she had expected Matt to suggest but from the way he was looking at her she knew she couldn’t refuse. The more time she got to spend with Matt Wilson the better, and if that meant she had to develop an interest in outdoor sports then so be it. She would just have to stock up on antibacterial hand wash. ‘Okay.’
‘Rosie, do you know what you’re letting yourself in for?’ asked Mia, her jaw dropping in incredulity.
‘Not really, but shouldn’t we be prepared to try everything before we discard it?’
‘Who are you and what have you done to my friend Rosie Barnes?’ laughed Mia before her face grew serious. ‘You do know what wild camping is, don’t you? There’s no tent, you collect your water from a stream, and have to carry everything you need for a night under the stars on your back!’
‘Ergh!’
‘No changing your mind now!’ chuckled Freddie, tossing back the remainder of his pint. ‘Anyway, you’ll have lots of fun. After all, I know someone who’ll be prepared to share his bodily warmth with you so you don’t freeze to death.’
Rosie was gratified to see the colour seep into Matt’s cheeks as Freddie stalked to the bar to replenish their drinks. She met his gaze and her heart ballooned at her good fortune to be able to call Matt her friend, and the possibility that he could be more than that loitered tantalizingly in the future.
‘Okay, I want to propose a toast,’ declared Freddie when he returned, handing round their glasses. ‘To Matt and Rosie – Willerby’s new crime-busting duo!’
‘To Matt and Rosie!’
Rosie giggled. ‘Cheers!’
THE END
Acknowledgements
A completed novel is always the result of a team effort, so I would like to say a huge, heartfelt thank you to the wonderful team at HarperImpulse, in particular my editor, Charlotte Ledger, for helping me make The Windmill Café series the best it can be.
Also in this series
The Windmill Café – Autumn Leaves
The Windmill Café – Christmas Trees
If you enjoyed Summer Breeze, then look out for the next book in the Windmill Café series, part two, Autumn Breeze
Click here to pre-order now
About the Author
Poppy Blake is an avid scribbler of contemporary romance and romcoms. When not writing she loves indulging in the odd cocktail or two - accompanied by a tower of cupcakes. The Windmill Café series follows the life and loves of Rosie and Matt in the glorious countryside of Norfolk and will be opening its doors in March 2018 with Summer Breeze. Why not pop in for a visit?
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About HarperImpulse
HarperImpulse is an innovative, award-winning digital imprint. In the four years since launch, we have continually hit digital bestseller lists, hosted the UK’s first online romance festival, published into over ten countries and grown an exciting stable of commercial women’s fiction authors.
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